Post by Joanna on Jan 15, 2019 12:30:09 GMT -5
Afghan Singer is Justin Trudeau's Doppleganger
Abdul Salam Maftoon, 29, an Afghan reality show contestant has become an unlikely hit thanks to his resemblance to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Maftoon, a finalist on Afghan Star, was just another performer until one of the show’s judges mentioned his similarity to the Canadian leader.
“People have forgotten my name and now they just call me ‘Justin Trudeau,’” Maftoon told Agence France-Presse. “I didn’t know anything about Justin Trudeau until I saw the photos on social media.”
Qais Ulfat, one of the show’s judges, is both Afghan and Canadian and said he spotted the similarity immediately. “I noticed he looked a lot like my prime minister,” he told the BBC. “So I started giggling around with the host.”
Afghan Star, roughly the equivalent of American Idol, has been an enormous success in Afghanistan since 2005, just after the fall of the Taliban. The terror group has reportedly threatened the show, deeming it “un-Islamic.”
Maftoon, who works in his home province of Badakhshan as a wedding singer, now finds himself among the final eight contestants on the show. His musical skills have made him a standout since this season began and even the judges are rooting for him. “He is a very, very talented artist,” Ulfat said. “I wish him the very best.”
Because of his newfound fame as Trudeau’s doppleganger, the husband and father of four’s chances of winning Afghan Star have increased. “The resemblance has boosted my chances of winning the competition by 50%,” he said. The show’s finale will air March 21, the evening before Persian New Year.
Maftoon hopes he will have a chance to meet Trudeau some day. “I want to meet him if he wants to because he is a global personality and I am a poor man from a remote part of Afghanistan,” he added.
Sources: Anna Hopkins, Fox News, January 15, 2019, and The National, January 14, 2019.
